Has Anybody Seen My PAL ?
by FlowerofAdversity
Summary: Note: One of Team FIDO’s cadets Vallos (A Peekapoo) can’t find his PAL (Personal Activity Log).


Has Anyone Seen My PAL ?

Note: One of Team FIDO's cadets Vallos (A Peekapoo) can't find his PAL (Personal Activity Log).

The PALs are important to the crewmembers since it helps them keep themselves organized. Vallos has gone a little frantic and can't believe he's so scatterbrained. A collected Captain Galaxia helps him retrace his steps and they find it in the oddest place…

Dramatis Personae

Captain Galaxia: Female, Golden Labrador

Vladimir Yagutin: (Vlad) Male, Alaskan Husky

Jaques: Male, Victorian Bulldog

Seneca: Female, Airdale Terrier

Motoko: (Toko) Female, Akita Inu

Cobain: (Coby) Male, Afghan Hound

Bernadette (Bernie): Female, Bishon Frize

Sean: Male, Kerry Blue Terrier

Agnes: Female, Norwegian Lunderhund

Vallos: (Val) Male, Peekapoo

Chapter 1—Vallos Goes Ballistic

Recently, Team FIDO had received a new recruit from The Master. He had been given all the necessary training and briefing that the other FIDO members had gotten before they were sent to Hydrant 1. Vallos was a male Peakapoo and he was eager to meet the crew he had heard so much about from the Master as well as the original Road Rovers. Thus far, he hadn't had any trouble going into space or becoming used to life on the Overlook Tower, Hydrant 1.

That was, until he lost his PAL. The PAL, or Personal Activity Log, was an electronic device used to keep track of a crewmember's schedule and daily duties aboard the Hydrant. These were important devices since crewmembers had so many errands to run on the ship and there were times that these kept the crew up to date with happenings at home, with their own lives and also with the other Space Rovers.

Vallos, or Val as his friends often called him, had gotten up as usual; ready to take upon new challenges. He was an eager cadet, loyal and true, with a heart willing to fight for justice. But something was different this morning. He had been able to get dressed and tidy up as everyone else did early in the day. Everything was happening as he had planned but he couldn't find his PAL anywhere. At first he was calm, thinking that he had left it someplace obvious like on his nightstand or in his study. He began looking everywhere in his quarters but found no trace of the electronic organizer anywhere. As new cadets often do, he began to panic, thinking that the others might laugh at him for misplacing it. He was running around frantically until he bumped into the Captain.

"What seems to be the problem, Val ?", Galaxia questioned, coolly.

"I can't seem to find my PAL anywhere. I've looked all over my quarters and I haven't been able to locate it.", Vallos replied beginning to calm down.

"Well, we can retrace your steps. Don't worry, Val. This sort of event happens frequently. In fact, I've misplaced my PAL before. They're so tiny that it's no wonder it might be caught in a crevasse somewhere on this Tower.", Galaxia reassured him, patting him on the shoulder. She was absolutely correct, though. The PALs, although handy, were quite tiny so it wasn't any wonder they were misplaced fairly often. But at least they had unique alarms in them that could be activated with the push of their FIDO communicator button.

Chapter 2—The Most Unlikely Place

Vallos began retracing his steps and remembered that he had laundry duty the day before. He didn't remember whether he had set the PAL down on one of the benches in the laundry room or in a basket or wherever. It was quite a conundrum and he was wracking his brain over it. After sitting down for a while and thinking, he pressed the communicator button on his chest and began to hear a faint beeping sound. The two of them began searching the laundry room and found the PAL amidst the fabric softeners and detergent. Galaxia clipped the PAL to Vallos' belt and grinned.

"Next time, you won't lose it. Remember that, ok ?", Galaxia said, laughing gently.

Vallos couldn't help but chuckle himself. The Captain's laughter was very infectious. But, he would remember her wise words to him. It was fortunate the PALs came with a clip-on device or more of the newer members of FIDO would continue having the same problem that Vallos had experienced. He kept this knowledge close to him at all times, knowing it would be useful later on (and save him from feeling embarrassed among his fellow crewmembers).

Chapter 3—Surprise !

Vallos was getting to love life aboard the Hydrant 1 and had also had the pleasure of traveling on a mission aboard the USS Companion. But now since the ranks of Team FIDO were growing so rapidly, another vessel had to be commissioned by the Master himself. With the help of his technical team on earth, the newest creation to be launched and docked at Hydrant 1 was named the USS Faithful. The Faithful was more streamlined than the Companion and had more firepower. It would prove to be a worthy opponent against any opposing force once it had to be used in battle.

Vallos wasn't aware that he was becoming integrated with his new family so quickly. He admitted that he missed his owners (especially his youngest owner, Scott), but he adored his new family and had grown attached to them. Everyone had treated him like a brother and he felt like he was with his parents and siblings again. What he didn't know was that this day, his birthday was going to be extra special.

Everyone was in the mess hall waiting for Vallos to arrive and once they did, they shouted "_Surprise ! Happy Birthday_ !", once he walked in. Vallos was happy that they had remembered and also pleased that his friends cared about him so much. Agnes was the first one to give him a gift and unexpectedly gave him a kiss on the cheek. Vallos had always liked her from the beginning and had tried to hide his crush on her from the moment he was inducted into Team FIDO, yet, he didn't mind the open public display of affection. They had been dating for about a year now and loved each other very much. Although Cobain made catcalls about their relationship, they knew that was just his attitude. Coby didn't mean any harm by it, he just loved teasing and having a great time.

The birthday party lasted all day long and Vallos was allowed to eat all of the cake he could. Being a lover of chocolate it wasn't any problem for him to wolf most of the cake down but he had been generous and allowed everyone else his or her fair share of the dessert. Of course, there was ice cream and punch and plenty of other things to eat so none of the crewmembers would become hungry. Another surprise of the evening before everyone went to bed and nightshift officers took their turn at their post was the fact that Vallos had been promoted to Ensign. He had only been there a year but his service had been exemplary. He promised not to disappoint and he never had. He thanked everyone for supporting him and hugged everyone in the room, even the Captain, who responded with a hearty laugh.

After everything was cleaned up, Vallos left with his beloved Agnes hand in hand and they spent some time out on the overlook, gazing at the stars before they said goodnight to each other.

Epilogue 

Team FIDO had been serving the Master faithfully for quite some time now and they had grown significantly since the original Space Rovers had been created. FIDO was still a young organization and it was still growing but it was making the Universe a safer place for all beings.

So long as FIDO existed, that would be the case and nothing was going to change that.

The End

May 12, 2005


End file.
